How To Photograph Your Child’s First Birthday Party

-Making a growth chart and putting a mark on the first birthday

-Collect a keepsake that can be added to in future years. For instance, charm bracelets make a good gift because you, or even other family members, can add a charm each year for as long as you wish.

-Purchase a one-time keepsake specific to the first birthday, such as a silver set commemorating the first birthday.

-Plant a tree on your child’s first birthday and watch it grow with your child.

-Find a place that is important to you or your family and take a photograph of your child each year, starting with their first birthday.

Games and Activities For The First Birthday

-Have enough toys available for babies, who tend to play next to each other, not with each other.

-Hold the party after most babies have had their afternoon nap so they are less tired and cranky

-Choose a place for the party that is familiar to the baby and where it feels safe and comfortable

-Balloons are not a great idea at a first birthday party because if they pop, the loud noise might frighten the babies and if they break, it becomes a choking hazard.

Five Ways To Have A Successful 1st Birthday

Some ideas:

-Party hats with the number “1”

-1^st birthday bibs

-Happy Birthday hats

-Plush first birthday crowns or baseball hats

-“I’m the Birthday Boy” or “I’m the Birthday Girl” t-shirts

1st Birthday Party Supplies To Entertain Little Ones

How To Photograph Your Child’s First Birthday Party

• Get down to your child’s level and photograph from her perspective. Photos seen from a child’s eye level gives you a better view of the festivities.
• Focus in on the party details like the cake, decorations, and presents. Fill the frame with the elements and details – it’s a nice way to help tell the story of your child’s first birthday party.
• Shoot a lot of candid photos. Though you’ll certainly want to have some posed shots with family, friends, and your birthday tot, don’t forget to keep snapping away at candid shots. Show scenes of the kids at play as well as kids interacting. It’s also a good idea to shoot from afar as well as take photos right in the midst of the action.
• Take photos in a continuous burst mode if you have a camera which allows you to do so. You’ll be able to capture fleeting moments, such as when your child takes that first bite of birthday cake.
  

Games and Activities For The First Birthday

Five Ways To Have A Successful 1st Birthday

Throwing First Birthday Parties On A Budget

• Plan the festivities at your home or at a park rather than paying for rental facility fees or the cost of paying for everyone’s food at a restaurant.
• Coordinate your themed supplies with a matching color. Buying a complete set of themed party decorations like Thomas and Friends or Curious George can run up your budget. Instead, pick one item, like helium balloons, with the theme you want and then purchase coordinating colors for the remaining pieces like napkins, cups, and plates.
• Keep the menu simple at first birthday parties. You can make your own affordable self-serve deli area with an array of meats, cheeses, crackers, and dips.
• Slim down the guest list to the closest of family and friends. You don’t have to invite every play date your one-year-old ever had at her first birthday. Mom, Dad, Grandparents, and a few close friends will still make a memorable first birthday event.

Ideas For First Birthday Cakes

• Create a first birthday cake fit for a king with a castle cake. Snack fruit rolls attached to wooden skewers make great flags and pretzel sticks lined in a row will create a bridge for your castle cake.
• Your party will go just swimmingly with a rubber duck cake. Use wedge shaped jelly candies for the beak on your rubber duck cake and add a heavy dose of blue frosting for the water surrounding the duck.
• For a truly magical first birthday cake, create a rabbit in a hat cake. Two layers of round cake can make up the hat while marshmallows will make up the rabbit.
  

1st Birthday Party Supplies To Entertain Little Ones

• 1st birthday supplies like large, colorful plastic balls and plastic containers to practice fine motor skills will keep infants as well as toddlers entertained.
• A fabric tunnel and tent to crawl through, walk through, or run through will keep toddlers and younger children busy.
• Large, fat, washable crayons and a large roll of white paper for doodling will give a creative outlet for all your younger guests.

How To Make Your Own 1st Birthday Invitations

• Fine quality paper
• Paper cutter
• Card stock
• Cement Glue
• Micro Hole Puncher
• Ribbon
• Envelopes

1. Using a computer, printer, and word processing program, format the date, event, time, place, and contact information. Keep the printable area within a 3.5”x5.25” zone. If you’re creative, add some graphics based on the theme of your first birthday party or a few lines about your child. Print out the design on the fine quality paper and trim with a paper cutter to 4”x5.75”.
2. Trim the card stock to 4.5”x6.25”.
3. Using cement glue, brush an even layer on the back of the printed fine quality paper and affix it to the center of the card stock.
4. Using the micro hole puncher, create two holes on either side of the centerline of the top of the card. Leave about a 1/4” between the holes. (It might be helpful to measure the area and mark it with a pencil first.)
5. Loop the ribbon from the rear of the card to the front and tie in a bow or knot.
6. Insert the 1st birthday invitations into 4.75”x6.5” envelopes.
   

First Birthday: Take it Easy

There's really not too many activities you can do for a first birthday, so relax! For an easy afternoon or morning party, invite a few friends with kids of the same age and serve some easy finger food. For brunch, bagels, scrambled eggs, and a fruit salad work well. You can also choose to meet at a local tot park instead of having it in your home. You can pack some sandwiches and juice and just let the kids play. Instead of a big birthday cake, bring cupcakes instead. Take some group pictures if you can round everyone up together.

*Once they're older, your child will enjoy seeing who knew them that first year. Most parents find it best to plan on no more than a 2 hour party. Try to plan it around your child's naptime and don't expect too much.

Quick Tips To Remember For First Birthdays

With all the excitment around your child's first birthday party, it's hard to remember everything. Here is a quick-hit list of things to remember when planning the party:

• Limit the number on your guest list if this is not a family party. The commotion of a lot of children and adults can cause the one-year old to become cranky.
• Be prepared for toddler tantrums, especially when struggles break out over the birthday gifts. Parents recommend opening presents right away (and then hiding them) or at the very end of the party, handing out favors at the same time so everyone gets something at once.
• For toddlers, the best time of day is usually mid-afternoon, when kids have napped and are in good moods. Avoid lunch-time parties at all costs; kids will be tired and hungry, but too excited to eat and rampant crankiness will be the result. A toddler party needs to be only one hour, and shouldn´t go longer than an hour and a half.
• It is often hard on very young kids to sit and watch the opening of the presents. Tears and fights can break out over the toys. It is often a better idea to open gifts after young guests have gone home.
• For children three and under, an adult should stay for the party. It´s a good idea to include the parents on the invitation if you think there could be any confusion. And be sure to plan extra food, etc. for those extra adults.

First Birthday: Celebration Ideas

A first birthday is fun but shouldn't be overwhelming--for either the child or the parents. Set up a budget ahead of time so you don't get overwhelmed by all the ideas you see and feel like you need to buy too much. If you're having a large group of people over to celebrate, keep the food simple and light. Finger foods and easy beverages will be enough, especially if you're having the party in the morning when most young children are at their better behavior.

If you want to serve a meal at the first birthday, one of the best birthday tips is to make it something you can make ahead of time and let guests help themselves. Lasagnas, tacos, and sandwiches work well. Do as much ahead of time as possible so you can relax and enjoy your guests and the first birthday as well. Take some pictures of the birthday child and relax and enjoy yourself.

First Birthday

If you're having other children over for a first birthday, create some fun placemats for the kids to take home after the party. You can print and laminate favorite coloring pages or collect a collage of photos of the birthday child, make color copies, and have them laminated.

Remember that first birthdays are really for the family of the child more so than for the child. If they have some friends they regularly see at the park, you might invite a few of them over for cupcakes in the afternoon. If you have family nearby, you might opt for a low-key brunch. Whatever you do, make it easy on yourself so you can enjoy your guests.

First Birthday Around the World

Different countries around the world have different traditions for a child's first birthday. In Malta, Korea, and other countries parents lay a variety of items on the floor or in a basket near the child. Each item is representative of a different career or future. Whatever the child picks up first is supposed to foretell their future.

Often a child is dressed up on their first birthday and presented to family members. In Korea, the child is given money gifts. Create your own birthday traditions and some that you do every year. Decorate the birthday child's chair at the dinner table, let them pick the dinner menu, and have a special plate that's only used on birthdays.

1st Birthdays & Christenings-When to Send Out Those Invitations